Three megatrends culminated in online business development in 2016, requiring attorneys to change their digital marketing tactics and to re-focus on what produces results.

1. Your next client will most likely visit you using a smartphone, not a desktop computer. New data from comScore shows that digital media time spent on mobile devices is now a whopping 68%. Desktop computers account for only one third of digital time spent. Ask yourself: What does your law firm website look like on a cell phone?
2. On social media, Facebook is by far the most effective. Facebook is social media to consumers. Sixty-six percent of adults log onto Facebook every day, according to Social Media Explorer. Eighty percent of consumers use the Facebook smartphone app. It is also on almost half of users’ smartphone home screens, according to comScore. How many likes and followers does your Facebook page have?
3. A majority of Americans are likely to retain a lawyer who is active on social media. Fifty-four percent of consumers say they would likely retain an attorney who is active on Facebook, Twitter or Linked-In, according to research by Thomson Reuters. This is especially true for younger Americans between the ages of 18-44. When was the last time you updated your firm’s Facebook page?

To grasp how much things have changed online in 2016, it is useful to compare the current number of active users on the social media that most lawyers use. (Source: Smartinsights.com)

• Facebook: 1.59 billion (by far the largest, fastest growing medium);
• Instagram: 400 million (a Facebook property);
• Twitter: 320 million (total of users is stagnant);
• Snapchat: 200 million (growing rapidly); and
• LinkedIn: 100 million (now just a resumé site with little engagement).

Did you notice that YouTube was not on the list? That’s because Snapchat (the mobile app to send videos that disappear after a few seconds) has more than 10 billion daily views, which exceeds even YouTube — the original site to showcase video content.

Twitter has degraded into a firehose of content, where law firms must post around the clock to break through the noise. Twitter is not a place where consumers spend a lot of time because most tweets include a link that sends them someplace else. Twitter’s best use it to try to send traffic to your website.

LinkedIn has become a silent dumping ground for self-promotional messages and links that lead away from the site. I manage 10 LinkedIn groups and despite my best efforts, there is hardly any interaction. I spend most of my time weeding out spam and removing people who post about topics that are irrelevant to the group.

Maximizing Results on Facebook

This brings us back to Facebook, which is now the social medium where attorneys should market. Absorb the fact that Facebook:

• Has far more engagement with people than LinkedIn or Twitter.
• Is the second most used web browser (after Chrome).
• Has the highest percentage of daily users.
• Has the highest average number of daily sessions.
• Is where most Americans get their news.
• Is where 34% of consumers find help to select a service provider, like a lawyer, plumber or doctor.

How did this happen? Two other megatrends converged in 2016. One began in 2009 when Baby Boomers (66 million) began using Facebook to stay in touch with their children and grandkids. The second culminated in April 2016 when the Millennial generation (75 million) overtook the Boomers as the largest generation in history. Millennials are all over Facebook.

Numbering about one quarter of the U.S. population, Millennials have spending power projected to reach $1.4 trillion in just four years. They are launching businesses, buying cars and starting families.

Millennials are digital natives who grew up with the Internet always in their lives. They work and play on cell phones. They are also all over social media, sharing, liking, snapping, forwarding, and commenting on all their findings. They are socially conscious and expect law firms to demonstrate corporate responsibility. They are visually oriented and tell stories with pictures more than words.

BY LARRY BODINENOVEMBER 28, 2016